“It meant a lot, because it’s the beginning of a new era. Nick, Miles, Dylan, they all have helped us build something from the ground up. They built it on work, on belief, and just commitment.”

“The whole school believes in celebrating athletes. That was our way of celebrating work, their effort and their commitment. So it was very special.”

On Nick’s maturation over the last four years

“Probably the biggest area in which he (Nick) has grown is mentally and emotionally. He’s got incredible skill, he’s got incredible size. He’s done a lot for us athletically. So just watching him mature as a man and watching him mature emotionally is probably one of the biggest things I enjoy seeing.”

On Nick and older players starting the trend of 6:30 practices

“We believe in building players. The way we do player development is in the morning before school. These kids get up at 5:30 in the morning, they get here at 6:30, and we work. And then they get ready for school. And all these young kids show up at 6:30 now. They don’t begrudge it, they love it. They love it because they watch these older players in here, and they get in here and the older players work with them. It’s a great environment of building players from the ground up. “

On being able to cap the ceremony off with a win

“It’s special for our seniors; it’s special for our fans. So yeah, it’s a real special night.”

About This Blog

Hey there, I’m Alex Rileyand I’m the high school sports writer for the StarNews in Wilmington.

Before coming to North Carolina, I was covering sports for the Wyoming Tribune Eagle in Cheyenne for two-plus years. Before that, I was in Ellis County, Texas covering sports for Waxahachie Newspapers Inc. Originally I’m from Blythewood, SC and I’m a 2008 grad of the University of South Carolina.

Follow me on Twitter at @StarNewsVarsity or email me at alex.riley@starnewsonline.com.